Friday, August 30, 2013

Free Will! One
of my favorites! The notion of man’s “free
will” is as common among the Christian church as any; it’s almost assumed. And while the Reformers do speak of man
having freedom to choose “civil righteousness” (like whether or not to obey the
speed limit), the Lutheran confession is clear that there is no “free will” in
spiritual matters. That is to say, by
our own reason or strength, our will is incapable of accepting anything of
God. Apart from the Holy Spirit working
through the Gospel, we are bound to sin and darkness, and not free at all. But through the Holy Spirit, who calls,
gathers, enlightens and sanctified, do are made new, and receive a will that
desires the things of God. Enjoy what
you find!

Collect
of the Week (Proper 16-C)

O Lord,
You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by
Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever.

Article
XVII (Christ’s Return for Judgment)

1
Our churches teach that a person’s will has some freedom to choose civil
righteousness and to do things subject to reason. 2 It has no
power, without the Holy Spirit, to work the righteousness of God, that is,
spiritual righteousness. For “the natural person does not accept the things of
the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14). 3 This righteousness
is worked in the heart when the Holy Spirit is received through the Word
[Galatians 3:2–6].

4
This is what Augustine says in his Hypognosticon,
Book III:

We grant that all people have a free will. It is free
as far as it has the judgment of reason. This does not mean that it is able,
without God, either to begin, or at least to complete, anything that has to do
with God. It is free only in works of this life, whether good or evil. 5
Good I call those works that spring from the good in nature, such as willing to
labor in the field, to eat and drink, to have a friend, to clothe oneself, to
build a house, to marry a wife, to raise cattle, to learn various useful arts,
or whatsoever good applies to this life. 6 For all of these
things depend on the providence of God. They are from Him and exist through
Him. 7 Works that are willing to worship an idol, to commit
murder, and so forth, I call evil.

8
Our churches condemn the Pelagians and others who teach that without the Holy
Spirit, by natural power alone, we are able to love God above all things and do
God’s commandments according to the letter. 9 Although nature
is able in a certain way to do the outward work (for it is able to keep the
hands from theft and murder), yet it cannot produce the inward motions, such as
the fear of God, trust in God, chastity, patience, and so on. (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions.
Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005,
S. 40).

Note:

By the time of the
Reformation, the Roman Church had fully developed a false and potentially
damning doctrine, one that stated that a person is able, to some degree, to
strive for and receive God’s mercy. Article XVIII asserts Scripture’s teaching
that people, apart from God’s grace, are wholly incapable of perceiving
spiritual things. The longest quote from a Church Father in the Augsburg Confession
occurs here. It demonstrates Lutheranism’s continuity with the Church
catholic—in contrast to Roman error on this doctrine. Augustine echoes the
Bible’s teaching that while we humans can perform acts of civil righteousness,
which may be called “good,” spiritually we are evil and enemies of God.
However, in Christ, our loving God breaks down the wall of hostility separating
us from Him. By His Spirit, through His Word, He gives us Christ’s perfect
righteousness as a gift. In external, worldly matters we do have the freedom to
make decisions according to human reason, but this does not mean, apart from
God’s grace, that we have similar powers in matters of eternal life. (See also Ap XVIII; FC Ep
II and SD II.)
(Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis,
MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005, S. 40).

Prayer

Almighty, everlasting God, for our
many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation. In Your mercy You sent Your
dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and
everlasting salvation. Grant us a true confession that, dead to sin, we may be
raised up by Your life-giving absolution. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may
be ever watchful and live true and godly lives in Your service; through Jesus
Christ, our Lord (LSB, collect #153).

Daily Prayer (For Friday)

We pray…for the preaching of the holy cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ and for the spread of His knowledge throughout the whole world;
for the persecuted and oppressed; for the sick and dying.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

O Lord,
You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by
Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever.

Genesis
39:6b-21 (From the Daily Bible Story Lectionary)

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master's
wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." 8 But he refused and said to his
master's wife, "Behold, because of me my master has no concern about
anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house
than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you
are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against
God?" 10 And as she
spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or
to be with her.

11 But one day,
when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was
there in the house, 12 she
caught him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me." But he left his
garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he
had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her
household and said to them, "See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to
laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud
voice. 15 And as soon as he
heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me
and fled and got out of the house."
16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came
home, 17 and she told him the
same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us,
came in to me to laugh at me. 18
But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me
and fled out of the house."

19 As soon as
his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, "This is the way
your servant treated me," his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him
and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were
confined, and he was there in prison. 21
But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor
in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

Catechism: The Fifth & Sixth Commandments

What is the Fifth Commandment?

You
shall not murder.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help
and support him in every physical need.

What is the sixth
Commandment?

You shall not
commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and
do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

Even though Joseph lived about 1,900 years before the
time of St. Paul, the wisdom that we see in both men is the same. Paul would write the Corinthian Christians to
“flee from sexual immorality” (1 Cor
6:18) and in Joseph we see what that looks like. What Paul teaches, by inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, we see Joseph carry out, also by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, by
whom we have the gift of repentance and the desire to keep God’s Word. The Lord has given the Six Commandment for
the protection of His institution of marriage, and where Paul would one day
exhort Christians to live sexually pure lives, we see in Joseph, an example of
how to do that.

Notice, that Joseph doesn’t even risk dabbling with this
temptation. There is no flirtation, no
lingering of eyes, no flattery of speech so as to indicate a desire that he
wished he could act on. There is the
threat of temptation, and Joseph fled.

Of course, like Joseph, our fleeing from temptation is no
guarantee that the temptation will no longer continue. Joseph was handsome in form and appearance,
and Potiphar’s wife didn’t give up on her pursuits of him. Though he fled temptation, temptation ran to
him. And so it goes for us. The Swimsuit Issue of Sports Illustrated was
opted out of (Yes, SI does give that option, and will extend your subscription
by one week of you take it!), internet history is monitored and filtered, even
the choice of movie and television show is made with care to avoid sexual temptation,
and to love and honor our spouse. But
temptation pursues us from all fronts.
Billboards, pop-up screens, waitresses trying to make an extra buck, or any
number of unsolicited sources of sexual temptation pursue us, and tempt us to
dishonor the gifts of sexuality, marriage, and more.

With Christ, there is forgiveness of sins. And with Christ’s forgiveness comes a new
creation—the old has gone, behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17). Like Joseph, though we be tempted, we need
not give in. And even though the
temptation persists, as we flee to Christ and the refuge of His Word we are
reminded not only of the forgiveness that is ours, but of the beautiful and
holy gift he has given in our sexuality, and in our spouses. And there, we are reminded that these gifts
aren’t worth forfeiting for a momentary whim of pleasure.

Of course, apart from the Holy Spirit, we would all give
in. But with Him there is repentance,
and in repentance, a new man comes forth to live by faith, and to fight against
the flesh. With repentance and faith, we
lead sexually pure and decent lives, and the state of marriage is held in high
esteem. In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, You were tempted in every way, just as
we are, yet You were without sin (Heb 4:15). Be with us in our temptations,
free us from the prison of sin, and by Your cross brign us to eternal life.
Amen (TLSB, p. 77).

Daily Prayer (For Thursday)

We pray…for the Church and her pastors; for teachers,
deaconesses, and other church workers; for missionaries and for all who serve
the Church; for fruitful and salutary use of the blessed Sacrament of Christ’s
body and blood.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

O Lord, You have called us to enter
Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by Your Word and Spirit, and
lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Mark
10:6-8a (Congregation at Prayer verse of the Week)

6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male
and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother
and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’

Catechism: The Fifth & Sixth Commandments

What is the Fifth Commandment?

You
shall not murder.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help
and support him in every physical need.

What is the sixth
Commandment?

You shall not
commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and
do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

The Lord has given the Sixth Commandment, for the sake of
the Fifth Commandment. Let me say that
another way: The LORD establishes marriage and the family in order to protect
the gift of life. And to say it one last
time: The gift of marriage is the institution given by the LORD for the giving
and nurturing of life. So by keeping the
Sixth Commandment, we also keep the Fifth Commandment.

It also follows, therefore, that in abusing the gift of
marriage, we fail to help and support our neighbor in his physical need. How is this so? Because where the family dissolves, so too,
dissolves the honor given to life. Where
man and woman do not live together in holy matrimony, the life of our neighbor
is also not honored, crime increases, and society declines. Indeed, the failure to honor the institution
of marriage results in a failure to honor and serve our neighbor in his/her
body.

On the other hand, in Christ’s work of redemption, we see
a picture of the love of husband and wife.
Where Christ gives Himself for His bride—the Church—so too, is the
husband called to give his life for his own bride—the wife. And likewise, as the Bride of Christ receives
the gifts Christ freely gives to her, a wife receives the self-sacrificial
gifts her Christian husband bestows on her.

But this even goes further. Christ dies for his bride, loving her with
his own self-sacrifice, and what is the result?
Life! So too, in the marriage,
when the husband loves his wife, and remains faithful to her, even giving
himself in the most intimate of ways.
And what is the result? Life!

So, you see, Christ has fulfilled both the Sixth
Commandment and the Fifth Commandment.
In Christ we see the love of marriage personified, and through Christ,
who dies for the bride, life is given and protected. In Christ, we see that the Sixth Commandment
is given for the sake of the Fifth.
Marriage is the gift by which the LORD gives and preserves life. By His Spirit, may our own marriages do the
same. In the name of T Jesus.

Prayer

O Lord God, at the creation of Adam and Eve You instituted
and blessed marriage as the union of a man and a woman and commanded that it be
held in honor by all. Grant Your blessings to all married couples, that their
life together may be blessed with wisdom, purity, self-sacrifice, and love;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord (Collect #242).

Daily Prayer (For Wednesday)

We pray…for marriage and family, that husbands and wives,
parents and children live in ordered harmony according to the Word of God; for
parents who must raise children alone; for our communities and neighborhoods.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

O Lord,
You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by
Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever.

Luke
10:25-37 (From the Bible Story Lectionary)

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test,
saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 26 He said to him, "What is
written in the Law? How do you read it?"
27 And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with
all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." 28 And he said to him, "You
have answered correctly; do this, and you will live."

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus,
"And who is my neighbor?" 30
Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he
fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him
half dead. 31 Now by chance a
priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other
side. 32 So likewise a
Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. 33 But a Samaritan, as
he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had
compassion. 34 He went to him
and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own
animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out
two denarii1 and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of
him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' 36 Which of these three, do you
think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the
robbers?" 37 He said,
"The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go,
and do likewise."

Catechism: The Fifth & Sixth Commandments

What is the Fifth Commandment?

You
shall not murder.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help
and support him in every physical need.

What is the sixth
Commandment?

You shall not
commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and
do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Devotional Thoughts

In the name of T Jesus.

If yesterday’s story of Cain and Abel reminded us that
the LORD’s desire is to protect life.
Today’s story, the well-known story known as the Good Samaritan—reminds us
to protect every life.

Travel across the globe, and you will find that murder is
illegal in every country and culture. However, as history has shown us
repeatedly, if we can redefine the word neighbor, and limit those who we
include in that category, then the LORD’s protection is also limited. During WW2, for example, ethnic Jews,
Gypsies, and the mentally disabled were not given the protection due our
neighbors because they were allowed to be labeled as “less than human.” Today, even in our own country, the value of
a life is judged by some on the basis of a person’s ability to contribute. No longer are secularists debating whether or
not there is life in the womb, or in a seriously ill patient; not the question
is one of “personhood.” Is that life a “person?”

Of course, if a life is not considered as a person, it
will surely not be given the protection due those who we easily see as
neighbors. And in this line of thinking,
the LORD’s desire to protect life is disregarded, and we sin against him.

And so the story of the Good Samaritan reminds us that Jesus
doesn’t allow us to limit the definition of “neighbor,”—or person, for that
matter. On the contrary, Jesus expands
it, so that there would not be a single person to whom the people of God would
deny the love and care due to our neighbors.

Of course, even the Good Samaritan would serve only as a
glimpse into the will of God revealed in Christ. For while the Samaritan surely stepped across
ethnic and/or religious dividers to love and serve his neighbor, Jesus would
step across any all barriers so that He might serve all men. And all the men for whom Jesus would die were
by nature His own enemies. For while we
were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly—or in these terms, the
non-neighbors! And so, Jesus teaches
that everyone, maybe even especially our enemies, are to be considered our
neighbors, and worthy of our love and care.

After all, if you struggle with this teaching, and find
it difficult to look beyond the differences we have with our fellow man, ask
yourself this question: “Is this a person for whom Christ died?” And since Christ has died for the sins of
all, then with your eyes on the cross, we might learn how to keep the Fifth
Commandment, and to support all of
our neighbors in every physical need.

In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

Lord, make me more like You, that I grow in faith and
love for my neighbor. May people see You in my actions as I reach out to them
with Your love. Amen (TLSB, p. 1735).

Daily Prayer (For Tuesday)

We pray…for deliverance against temptation and evil; for
the addicted and despairing, the tortured and oppressed; for those struggling
with sin.

Monday, August 26, 2013

O Lord,
You have called us to enter Your kingdom through the narrow door. Guide us by
Your Word and Spirit, and lead us now and always into the feast of Your Son,
Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever.

Genesis
4:1-15 (From the Bible Story Lectionary)

1 Now Adam knew
Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have gotten1
a man with the help of the LORD."
2 And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper
of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering
of the fruit of the ground, 4
and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.
And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he
had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, "Why
are you angry, and why has your face fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted?1 And
if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for2 you,
but you must rule over it." 8
Cain spoke to Abel his brother.1 And when they were in the field,
Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain,
"Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know; am I my
brother's keeper?" 10
And the LORD said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood
is crying to me from the ground. 11
And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive
your brother's blood from your hand. 12
When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You
shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the LORD, "My
punishment is greater than I can bear.114 Behold, you have driven me
today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a
fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill
me." 15 Then the LORD
said to him, "Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on
him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him
should attack him.

Catechism: The Fifth & Sixth Commandments

What is the Fifth Commandment?

You shall not murder.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help
and support him in every physical need.

What is the sixth
Commandment?

You shall not
commit adultery.

What does this mean?

We should fear
and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and
do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Devotion

In the name of T Jesus.

In chapter three of Genesis, we have the curse, a judgment
spoken by God on all creation because of the sin of Adam and Eve. Nothing was exempt. Rather than unending life, plants, animals,
and even the crows of the LORD’s creation—mankind—would now suffer the wages of
sin and die. The LORD gives life; it is the sin of mankind that brings death. And it doesn’t take long for mankind to bring
death.

The curse was in chapter three, and in the very next
chapter we hear the story of Cain murdering Abel. Selfishness, jealousy, covetous desire,
anger, hatred: all of these sinful
desires are already in the heart of Cain and are what lead him to commit that
first bloody murder. And even though
this is just one chapter after the fall, we learn from this that when man is
born sinful, he is born completely sinful.

Like dogs giving birth to dogs, and cats giving birth to
cats, sinful man gives birth to sinful men.
The offspring of Adam don’t need generations to become sinful; they are born sinful—completely sinful. Cain’s heart was already full of all those
sinful desires spoken of by Jesus in Matthew, chapter 15. And so, where there are sinful hearts, there
will be sinful desires; and these sinful desires, left unchecked, will result
in the taking of life and the destruction of the LORD’s good creation.

This is why the LORD gives the Fifth Commandment. The creator of life is also the protector of
life. He delights not in the death of
anyone, and so he has given mankind his explicit will on the subject of life
and death. “You shall not murder.” You are not to take life into your own hands,
for life is not yours to give or to take.
Rather, you are to help and support your neighbor in all his physical
needs.

We see this even in how the LORD gives His punishment to
Cain, the murderer. Rather than the LORD
shedding the blood of Cain to pay for the blood of Abel, the LORD protects even
the life of the guilty. Sure, there was
judgment on Cain, as he was made a fugitive and wanderer in the land. But there was also protection for his
life. The LORD placed a mark on him, and
warned anyone who might seek to harm him.
Because the LORD and giver of life, is also the protector of life.

You see, the blood of Cain cannot pay for the blood of
Abel. The death of any of our enemies
does not satisfy our desire for vengeance.
Only the blood of Jesus can do that.
And it has done that. The blood
of Jesus was shed so that life might once again be the gift that is given by
the LORD. Through His blood, death is
defeated, and eternal life is given. So
the LORD not only continues to give life, and through the Fifth Commandment protects
life, but in Christ, the LORD still makes life to last forever. In the name of T Jesus. Amen.

Prayer

Lord and giver of life, chase from us all the hatred,
envy, jealousy, and covetous desires which lead us to mistreat our
neighbors. Bring us to repentance, and
by faith in the forgiveness won for us by Christ, teach us how to love and
serve our neighbor in all his physical needs; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

You
and I have a Father who desperately wants to keep you, and all His children,
for all eternity. You and I are the
Father’s sons and daughters. By Holy
Baptism we became coheirs, with His only-begotten Son, of all the Father’s
blessings. Your sin was crucified with
Christ. With Jesus, your eternal life has
burst forth from His empty tomb.
Salvation belongs to the Lord, and he gives it freely to His sons and
daughters. The Father loves you, his
children. His desire is to keep you for
all eternity. This is why He must
discipline you.

Of
course, like all children, we would rather not be disciplined, at least at
first. But this morning, God the Holy
Spirit will bring us to maturity, and will teach us to welcome the Father’s
discipline with thanksgiving. By God’s
Word we will see, that when the Father gives His Law, it is Good and Wise. We will learn that the Father’s discipline
brings with it the fruit of repentance and faith. This is how he turns His children from their
sin, so that they would flee to Jesus, who from the curse has set us free. The Father’s discipline brings us to
righteousness.

Consider
first today’s Gospel reading. It would
be difficult to find a clearer passage in all of scripture to remind us of the
importance of our Father’s discipline.
When asked if those who are saved will be few, Jesus’ answer should
catch the attention of even the most faithful churchgoers. Many,
I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has risen
and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door,
saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you
come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and
you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where
you come from. Depart from me, all you
workers of evil!’ (Luke 12:24-27)
Talk about a narrow door. So
narrow, in fact, is the way of salvation, that many who live their lives thinking
that they will inherit the kingdom, will be sent away from the Lord, and into
that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

People
who ate and drank with Jesus; folks who gathered to hear him teach in their
streets; thrown out of His presence and into eternal death. Haven’t we eaten with Jesus? Haven’t we drank from the cup of His
blood? Haven’t we gathered together for confirmation
classes, Bible classes, and haven’t we had devotional time to learn the Lord’s
teaching? How are we any different than
those who Jesus calls workers of evil?
How are we to know if we will avoid our own weeping and gnashing of
teeth? How are we to know whether or not
the door is too narrow for us? Hear
again verses 5 and 6 of the Epistle, from Hebrews, chapter 12:

My son(s) (and daughters), do not regard
lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and
chastises every son (and daughter) whom he receives.

So how do you receive the discipline
of the Father?

For
many, the discipline of the Father is good, as long as it is applied to someone
else. When they hear the Law clearly
preached, they respond by saying to their pastor: “You really got ‘em today.” “They really needed to hear that.” Or maybe this sort of person just sits in the
pew thinking, “I know someone like that.”
The problem is, if the Father’s discipline is always intended for
someone else, than the Father is not treating you as a son or daughter, for the
one who He disciplines is the
one He loves.

Other
folks are simply convinced that the Father’s discipline no longer applies. It goes something like this: “the Old
Testament was full of rules and regulations, but now we have the New Testament,
which is all about love and peace. Do
you really think I could go to hell for dishonoring my parents, or for ripping
off my employees, or for having premarital sex, or for hating that guy at
church, or for harming my classmates reputation, or for scheming to get my
brothers inheritance, or for encouraging my neighbor’s wife or workers to leave
him, or turn away from him. God loves me
just the way I am.”

Well,
God the Father does love you, but He has no intention of leaving you in your
sin, walking down the path that leads away from heaven. He hates the sin that flows from your heart:evil thoughts,
murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matthew
15:19). And yes, this does apply to all of
us, you and me. There’s no denying it.

In
your own struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of
shedding your blood. In other words,
when temptation has come upon you, you have fallen. You have not been able to stand up against
the devil’s attacks and come out unscathed like Jesus Christ. You have not been able to humble yourself to
the point of death, rather than seek your own glory. Unlike Jesus, you have fallen short of the
glory of God, which is why the Father doesn’t simply leave you as you are. No, the Father disciplines you because he
loves you. His desire is to keep you.

And
so, my friends, there is another response to the Father’s discipline—a faithful
response. This response is only taught
by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.
And it enables the Father’s sons and daughters, sinners like you and me,
to confess the absurd:

·Oh how I love your law! I meditate
on it all day long. (Psalm 119:97)

·My flesh trembles in fear of you; I stand in awe of your
laws. (Psalm 119:20)

·I love your commands more than gold, more than
pure gold, and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong
path. (Psalm 119:127-128)

·I hate and abhor falsehood but I love your law. (Psalm 119:163)

The faithful response, made possible
only as the Holy Spirit gives faith in the Word, is to receive the Father’s
discipline with thanksgiving. With eyes
of faith, the Holy Spirit teaches us to know that the Father’s discipline is
always for our good, for by it he chases away the sin that so easily entangles,
and produces in us the repentance that leads us to the cross, where our
righteousness is found.

We
have all had earthly parents who disciplined us and we respected them. Listen
to how Dr. Luther describes the respect we have for our earthly parents:

Every head of a household must punish and should not
tolerate evil…A father does not punish his son in order to make him spiteful
and ruin him in body and soul, but rather to ward off his vice; he wants to
purify him and wipe away his faults. He
hates, not the person, but the vice.
This is a wrathful love which is kind and good toward the person; hence
it cannot tolerate the nastiness in him.
So, too a woman cannot bear it when there is dirt on her child’s nose,
but must wipe it away; she does not do this in order to hurt the child. Magistrates, teachers, and parents must
chastise, but this chastisement is fatherly and kind.[1]

So,
if we can readily admit that our earthly parents’ discipline is good and wise,
shall we not much more be subject to our perfect heavenly Father? Our earthly parents disciplined us for a
short time as it seemed best to them, praying for help, and experimenting along
the way, but God the Father’s discipline is always Good and Wise.
The Father disciplines us, his children, so that he might keep us as His
children. His discipline serves to keep
us on that narrow way spoken of by Jesus, and for this reason, we receive the
Father’s discipline with joy and thanksgiving, even though it isn’t fun or
pleasant. And according to the
Scriptures, it won’t be fun or pleasant.

When
the Law is preached or taught to us in such a way that it pierces through to
our heart and causes us to see our sin in the mirror, it isn’t fun or
pleasant. It forces us to change our
sinful ways, to flee from temptation, to put to an end certain behaviors, and
to ultimately admit that our ways are often times not the ways of the
Lord. The Father’s discipline in the law
humbles us, and while it isn’t pleasant at the time, in repentance and faith, we
learn to receive it with joy and thanksgiving.
As sons and daughters who have been instructed and sanctified by the
Holy Spirit, we know that the Law’s greater purpose is to drive us to repentance,
where we are stripped of our self-righteousness, and by faith, find our refuge
in the cross, and the blood of Jesus which flows from it.

Even
the Father’s only begotten Son, did not find the Father’s discipline to be
pleasant at the time: "My Father,
if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." But the Father would not refrain from
disciplining His own Son—and so, Jesus became the mediator of a new covenant,
and His blood was sprinkled out so that it would speak a better word than the
Law.

You see,
the Father’s wrath and final judgment has been carried out on His Son, so that you,
His children, would not suffer the same fate, and be separated for all
eternity. You and I have a Father who desperately wants to keep you,
and all His children, for all eternity.
You and I are the Father’s sons and daughters. And so, He disciplines You, by His Word, he
trains you through the crosses you bear, and he instructs you in the midst of
your greatest burdens, to cling to Him.
So that you too would confess how you delight in His law, how you
welcome His discipline, how you give thanks for His instruction—even when it
isn’t fun or pleasant.

But how much joy there will be on that Day when the Son of
God will appear and say: “Behold, I am your Savior and Deliverer…I have
chastised you that your sin might be purged away and that you might acknowledge
Me as your God and Savior”![2]

You
and I have a heavenly Father who disciplines us, His children, because He desperately
wants to keep us for all of eternity. Salvation
belongs to the Lord, and he gives it by grace to His sons and daughters who in
repentance and faith, flee for refuge to Jesus, who from the curse has set us
free. Disciplined by the Father, and repenting
of our sin, we humbly worship at His throne, Saved by His grace through faith
alone. In the name of T
Jesus. Amen.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Today’s topic—Christ’s Return for Judgment—should be
pretty straightforward…but it’s not. In
the first paragraph we see the simplicity of the Scripture’s teaching on the
return of Christ, a teaching that is Good News for the Christian. Then we see the false teachings that were
already running rampant during the time of the Reformation: Annihilationism and
Millennialism. Enjoy!

Collect
of the Week (Proper 15-C)

Merciful
Lord, cleanse and defend Your Church by the sacrifice of Christ. United with
Him in Holy Baptism, give us grace to receive with thanksgiving the fruits of
His redeeming work and daily follow in His way; through the same Jesus Christ,
Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever.

Article
XVII (Christ’s Return for Judgment)

1
Our churches teach that at the end of the world Christ will appear for judgment
and will raise all the dead [1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:2]. 2 He
will give the godly and elect eternal life and everlasting joys, 3
but He will condemn ungodly people and the devils to be tormented without end
[Matthew 25:31–46].

4
Our churches condemn the Anabaptists, who think that there will be an end to
the punishments of condemned men and devils.

5
Our churches also condemn those who are spreading certain Jewish opinions, that
before the resurrection of the dead the godly shall take possession of the
kingdom of the world, the ungodly being everywhere suppressed. (Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions.
Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005,
S. 40).

Note:

This article affirms
the biblical view of the end times. It pointedly rejects any speculation or
opinion about believers ruling the world before the final resurrection of the
dead. It also rejects all theories about a “millennial” earthly rule of Christ
as contrary to God’s Word. (See also Ap
XVII.)(Concordia: The Lutheran
Confessions. Edited by Paul Timothy McCain. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing
House, 2005, S. 40).

Prayer

Almighty, everlasting God, for our
many sins we justly deserve eternal condemnation. In Your mercy You sent Your
dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who won for us forgiveness of sins and
everlasting salvation. Grant us a true confession that, dead to sin, we may be
raised up by Your life-giving absolution. Grant us Your Holy Spirit that we may
be ever watchful and live true and godly lives in Your service; through Jesus
Christ, our Lord (LSB, collect #153).

Daily Prayer (For Friday)

We pray…for the preaching of the holy cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ and for the spread of His knowledge throughout the whole world;
for the persecuted and oppressed; for the sick and dying.